Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Feb 13: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh today announced the first national call for the BIRAC-RDI Fund, marking a major push to scale high-impact biotechnology innovations under the Government of India’s Rs 1 lakh crore Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) initiative. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences; and MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh said the launch reflects a decisive shift in India’s approach to science-led growth and signals that the country is no longer a late entrant but an early mover in emerging technologies.
The launch event was attended by Dr. Vinod Paul, Member, NITI Aayog; Dr. Rajesh S. Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology; Dr. Jitendra Kumar, Managing Director, BIRAC; senior officials from DST and ANRF, industry leaders, venture capital representatives, and members of the scientific community.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said that over the past decade, India has moved from policy hesitation to policy acceleration in biotechnology. He said the transformation is visible in the expansion of the startup ecosystem, from around 50 biotech startups in 2014 to more than 11,000 today, reflecting what he described as a quantum jump in scale and ambition. The bioeconomy, which stood at about 8 billion dollars in 2014, has expanded rapidly, placing India among leading global players.
He said biotechnology will drive the next phase of industrial growth, much like information technology shaped India’s earlier transformation. According to him, the coming industrial revolution will be powered by biotech innovation, advanced manufacturing, and new-age entrepreneurship. He added that the current initiative strengthens India’s capacity not only to generate ideas but also to industrialise them.
Referring to emerging frontiers, the Minister said India has already entered areas such as space biotechnology and is preparing for future domains like space medicine. Biotechnology experiments are being conducted in space using kits developed domestically, covering plant sciences and life sciences research. He said such efforts position India to contribute knowledge and applications of global relevance, enhancing both scientific stature and geopolitical standing.
Dr. Rajesh S. Gokhale said the RDI Fund has been structured to support long-gestation, high-risk research that requires patient capital and advanced infrastructure. He said the initiative complements the BioE3 Policy and provides a framework to build next-generation products across biopharma, bio-industrial manufacturing, bioenergy, blue economy and biocomputation. The objective, he said, is to move from research outputs to scalable industrial outcomes.
Dr. Jitendra Kumar said BIRAC has been appointed as a second-level fund manager under the RDI framework and will deploy ?2,000 crore over a period of up to five years, with scope for further expansion. He said BIRAC has built a nationwide innovation ecosystem over the past decade, including more than 100 bio-incubation centres, over 10 lakh square feet of incubation space, and engagement with more than 15 lakh startup entrepreneurs. India’s bioeconomy, he said, has grown from 28 billion dollars in 2012 to 165.7 billion dollars in 2024, with a target of 300 billion dollars by 2030 and 1 trillion dollars by 2047.
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